Charlie Brown would have been proud.

Sunday, September 26, 1999

Charlie Brown would have been proud.

The first-ever Southern Minnesota Giant Pumpkin Club Weigh-off was a huge success Saturday at Super Fresh Produce in Austin.

"Do we want to host the weigh-off again next year? You bet we do," said Jim Stiles, owner of Super Fresh Produce. "You can see by the crowd it attracted, people enjoy something like this."

"We hope to bring it right back here to Super Fresh Produce," said Dave Andree, rural Brownsdale, who organized the competition with his wife, Jan, and children, Sherry, Tim and Jason. "We had a lot of fun."

The competition had been held at Byron previously, but Tom Tweite decided he had enough and put the contest up for grabs and the Andrees grabbed it.

They were successful in signing up a host of local sponsors. The Minnesota Grown marketing program of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture was another sponsor.

On Saturday, 19 pumpkins were entered in the competition, which offered cash prizes and plaques for the winners. There were also giant squash and sunflower entries and tall cornstalks, too.

Marianne Apenitis, Excelsoir, exhibited the largest pumpkin, a 519 pound behemoth. She earned $500 and a plaque for her efforts.

Husband and wife, George and Carol Heyne, Rochester, finished second and third respectively. George showed a 511.5 pound entry. Carol showed a 474.5 entry.

Last year, George won the Byron weigh-off with a 693 pound monster.

Second-place in Saturday’s competition earned $100 for George and third-place was worth $50 for Carol’s entry.

Ironically, Marianne Apenitis’ grand champion was also voted the "ugliest" pumpkin in the competition. That was worth $25.

John Akkerman, rural Austin, showed a pumpkin that earned him $25 for having the "prettiest" pumpkin.

Apenitis’ grand champion will be on display at Super Fresh Produce for two weeks.

two of the 11 pumpkin entries exceeded 500 pounds, three exceeded the 400-pound mark on the scale and three others topped the 200 pound mark.

The largest ones had to be lifted by forklift onto a scale for weighing. Don Barnes and Sherry Hansen were the judges and a crew of Nathan Thompson’s Hayfield FFA students, Chad Lowe, Dan Holland, Kathryn Schley, Shelly Bauman and Anna Wilson helped weigh and tabulate the results.

"This is the first time I have ever won something for growing a pumpkin," said Apenitis. "Last year, I grew a 641 pound pumpkin just by accident. The winning pumpkin was the last one pollinated so it’s actually the youngest of five plants in my garden this summer."

O. Bhaskaran won $25 and a plaque for showing the largest squash, which weighed 440 pounds.

Dick Waldman, rural Austin, finished second with a 349.5 pound entry.

Tessa, 3, and Samantha, 4, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Steve Ivers, rural Lansing, tied with Fay Saman, Austin, for top honors in the largest sunflower competition.

Each showed sunflowers measuring 16 1/2 inches in diameter.

They split the $25 prize money.

John Ulland of Uncle John’s Pumpkin Patch fame, exhibited the tallest corn stalk, a giant measuring 164 3/4 inches. Ulland won $25 and a ribbon.

Linda Abbot-Roe, rural Taopi, finished second with a 122-inch tall cornstalk.

How does one grow a giant pumpkin? Eleven-year-old Brian Akkerman had the answer. "We dig a pit and cover it with sheep manure and grow them there," he said before adding, "and we use Miracle Grow."